THIS WEEK IN REVIEW

Bolivia: Striking miners kidnapped and beat to death the country’s Minister of the Interior. This followed the recent police killing of two protesting miners. Protesters have shut down roads and stranded thousands of drivers. Police and miners have thrown sticks of dynamite at each other in violent confrontation. At issue is the government’s refusal to allow mining cooperatives to work with private mining companies to improve output and wages. AP 2016 Aug 26 (Story) (Cached)

Long Island, New York: Peter A. Kaisen, a 76-year old military veteran, killed himself in the parking lot of a Veterans Administration hospital after he was turned away at the emergency room while seeking treatment for mental-health problems. Newsmax 2016 Aug 26 (Story) (Cached)

An unarmed Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces. The man’s family says the killing was unprovoked, but the Israeli army says the man was running toward a military post. Human rights groups have accused Israeli forces of using lethal force where non-lethal measures would have been appropriate. Since October 2015, Israeli troops and settlers have killed 223 Palestinians, including unarmed demonstrators, bystanders, and attackers. During the same period, Palestinian attackers killed 35 Israelis. Aljazeera 2016 Aug 26 (Story) (Cached)

Philippines: President Duterte has ordered his military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group following the kidnapping and beheading of a villager after his family failed to pay ransom. Thousands of reinforcement troops are being deployed to launch the offensive against the group. AP 2016 Aug 25 (Story) (Cached)

Twelve people were killed when three terrorists stormed the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. One of the attackers blew himself up to blast open the school door. The raid lasted for ten hours before authorities were able to stop the two armed gunmen. No terrorist group has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban is the primary suspect. ABC News 2016 Aug 25 (Story)

Ever wonder why the cost of drugs is so high and their profit margins so great? Do you suppose the answer lies in the fact that the pharmaceutical industry receives an average return of 77,500% for every dollar it spends lobbying Congress? Here is a list of how much money each of the drug companies spends on lobbying. It will answer these questions. ZeroHedge 2016 Aug 25 (Story) (Cached)

Turkey was the site of another terror attack in which 54 people at a Kurdish wedding party were killed. Turkish President Erdogan blamed the attack on ISIS, but critics suspect it was a false-flag attack by Turkish forces and that, blaming it on ISIS will be used by Erdogan as another excuse to invade Syria. AntiMedia 2016 Aug 24 (Story) (Cached)

Ron Paul says that the US is supporting Turkey’s invasion into Syria. [Toppling the Syrian government has been a long-term goal of the US government.] RPI 2016 Aug 24 (Story)

Turkey is invading Syria under the banner of defeating ISIS, but the real goal is to prevent its Kurdish enemies from creating a contiguous Kurdish territory. Kurds have been battling ISIS for an area that separates two populations of Kurds. If ISIS is defeated, it would allow the two districts to merge and form an independent Kurdish district. Turkey has supported ISIS in the past to keep the Kurds separated, and now it is seeking to prevent the Kurds from seizing ISIS territory. Haaretz 2016 Aug 24 (Story) (Cached)

Roanoke, Virginia: A man shouting “Allah Akbar” (Arabic for “God is most great”) attacked a man and woman with a knife and may have intended to behead the man. Even more shocking is the fact that the media initially ignored the story, possibly to avoid stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment. It is unknown at this time whether the attacker is a US citizen or a refugee. ZeroHedge 2016 Aug 23 (Story) (Cached)

The German government has advised its citizens to stockpile at least ten-days’ worth of food and water for emergencies. This is in anticipation of further destabilization of public services caused by immigration-related violence. RT 2016 Aug 22 (Story)

Philippines President Duterte publily insults the UN and the US. [It looks like the Philippines has its own politically incorrect version of Donald Trump.] RT 2016 Aug 22 (Story)

This article lists a sampling of donors to the Clinton Foundation. It reads like a Who’s Who of the Elite. Politico posted 2016 Aug 22 (Story) (Cached)

US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, has a difficult time defending Hillary Clinton in the wake of the release of more of her emails. Evidence continues to mount showing conflicts of interest, blatant lying to Congress, and now a ‘pay-to-play’ deal with the crown prince of Bahrain. Fox News 2016 Aug 22 (Story)

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has been living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for the past four years and is believed to be a target for assassination. During the early hours of Monday morning, a person described in the press as a cat burglar scaled the wall of the consulate and attempted to get inside the building but was thwarted by security personnel. This closely followed Assange’s announcement that he will release emails that will put Hillary Clinton in prison. Next News Network 2016 Aug 22 (Story)

The US military is genetically modifying soil-based bacteria to grow fibers for nano-supercomputers. The bacteria grows hair-like protein filaments that transfer electrons out of the cell onto surrounding minerals. [What could possibly go wrong?] Next News Network 2016 Aug 22 (Story)

A strange black substance comprised of bacteria, molds, and other living species is attacking iconic Washington memorials. No one so far has any reasonable theory about its source or how to remove it. CBS News 2016 Aug 20 (Story)

Quebec, Canada: A human-rights tribunal fined a comedian $42,000 for making a joke that was ‘in poor taste’ about a boy with a serious disease. [Hate speech laws may seem innocent or even praiseworthy, but they are the precursors of hard-core censorship, which serves primarily to suppress political dissent.] Heat Street posted 2016 Aug 20 (Story)

A statement by Dr. Drew Pinsky, a medical doctor who frequently appears in the media, was scrubbed from the record by KABC talk radio after he expressed concern that Hillary Clinton may have brain damage from her fall in 2012. Mark Dice posted 2016 Aug 20 (Story)

Bill Clinton says he will resign from the board of the Clinton Foundation if Hillary wins the presidency, and that the Foundation has stopped taking corporate and foreign donations. Critics have responded with the question: If the Foundation was above-board, why is there a need to change anything now? CNN posted 2016 Aug 20 (Story)